Children Bible Stories

In the days when judges ruled over the Israelites, there was a man named Elimelech who lived in Bethlehem in Judah.

Elimelech and his wife, Naomi has two sons. The two sons were Mahlon and Chilion.

It happened that there was famine in the land and Elimelech moved his family to Moab.

Elimelech died and Naomi was left with her two sons.

Later, Naomi two sons, Mahlon and Chilion each got a wife for themselves. Mahlon married Orpah and Chilion married Ruth.

Mahlon and Chilion both have no children with their wives.

After ten years, Mahlon and Chilion died. Now, Naomi is only left with her two daughters in laws.

One day, Naomi decided to go back to her hometown in Bethlehem. Naomi said to Orpah and Ruth, “Since my sons are dead and you have no children, you should go back to your own family.”

Orpah cried and kissed Naomi and then she bade goodbye to her and return to her own people.

But Ruth held on to Naomi, saying, “I will not return to my own people. Your God is my God. If you die, I will die with you. I will follow you to wherever you go.”

When Naomi saw that Ruth is determined to follow her, she stop insisting her to return to her father’s household. When Naomi and Ruth reached Bethlehem, it was the barley harvest.

Naomi’s husband Elimelech had a rich relative called Boaz.

Ruth said to Naomi, “Let me go into the field of Boaz and glean the grains that I will find favor in his sight.”

Naomi blessed her and said, “Go, my daughter.”

Ruth went and gleaned the wheat left by the reapers in Boaz’s wheat field.

Boaz happened to saw Ruth at the field and he asked the workers who she was.

They told Boaz that she was the daughter in law of Naomi who had just came back from Moab.

Boaz then said to his workers, “Make sure you purposely make grains fall from the bundles of wheat barley for her and give her water to drink whenever she is thirsty.”

Boaz called Ruth and talked to her. Then he invited her to have a meal with him.

After the meal, Ruth continues to glean in the field until evening.

She beat the wheat that she gathered and it was an ephah of barley. She brought the ephah of barley back and show Naomi.

Naomi said to Ruth, “Tonight, Boaz will be winnowing barley at the threshing floor. Put on your best clothes and perfume and go down to the threshing floor. Don’t let Boaz knows who you are until he finished eating and drinking. Boaz will lie down and fell asleep. Then you shall go and lie beside Boaz. After that, Boaz will tell you what to do.”

Ruth listened to what Naomi said. She went down to the threshing floor where Boaz is winnowing barley.

After that, Boaz ate and drank and was very merry. Then he lie down to sleep.

Ruth then went in and uncovers Boaz’s feet and lie beside him.

In the midnight, Boaz was shocked to found Ruth was laying beside him.

Boaz said to Ruth, “Stay here. I have a close relative. He should perform his duty and marry you. ”

Then Ruth lay on Boaz’s feet. Later, Ruth woke up to go home.

Boaz then poured out some barley into Ruth’s shawl because he doesn’t want Ruth to go home to Naomi empty handed.

Boaz remind Ruth not to let anyone knows that she came to the threshing floor. Ruth promised Boaz to keep it a secret and she went back home to Naomi.

The next morning, Boaz went up to the city gate. He saw the close relative sitting nearby and he spoke to him. Boaz then took 10 elders of Israel as witness between him and the close relative.

Boaz said, “Naomi had come back from Moab with her daughter in law, Ruth. Naomi wants to sell her land. Are you willing to buy backNaomi’s land and redeem it?”

The close relative answered, “I will buy back the land.”

Then Boaz said, “If you buy Naomi’s land, you must also marry Naomi’s daughter in law who is a widow now so that your inheritance will carry Elimelech’s name.”

The close relative said, “If this is so, I will not buy Naomi’s land. You can buy it and marry Ruth.”

At that time, there is a custom concerning exchanging and redeeming: one man should take out his sandal and exchange it.
The close relative took out his sandal and gave it to Boaz.

After that, Boaz purchased Naomi’s land and took Ruth as his wife. Boaz laid with Ruth and she gave birth to a son called Obed.

Obed is the father of Jesse. Jesse is the father king David.

During the time of the judges, there was a brave man called Jephthah. Jephthah was the son of a prostitute.

Jephthah grew up with his brothers who are from a different mother.

One day, Jephthah’s brothers chased Jephthah out of their home because they say Jephthah is the son of a prostitute and so he is not fit to inherit anything from their father.

Jephthah ran away from his home. He met a few idle men and they become a gang. Jephthah often raid the cities with his men.

At that time, the Ammonites were fighting with the Israelites in war.

The Israelites were about to be defeated when the elders of Gilead thought about Jephthah.

Jephthah said, “Didn’t you hated me and chase me out of my father’s house? Why do you come to seek my help now?”

The elders of Gilead replied, “We have come to you so that you will go along with us to fight with the Ammonites.”

Jephthah said, “If I go back with you, will I be your leader?”

They replied, “You will be the army commander of our army.”

So Jephthah sent messengers to the king of Ammon.

In the message, Jephthah said, “Why did you wage war against Israel?”

The king of Ammon answered, “We are waging war against Israel because they had taken away our land since they came out of Egypt from Arnon to Jabok and Jordan.”

Jephthah said, “We did not steal those territories from you. We conquered the land and so they belong to our territories now.”

The king of Ammon did not listen to what Jephthah said. Then the Spirit of the Lord filled Jephthah and he gathered a huge army from Gilead and Manasseh.

Jephthah made an oath to God, saying, ”If you help me to defeat the Ammonites, whoever that come out of my house first I will offer him as a burnt offering to you.”

Jephthah took his men and they fought against the Ammonites. The Lord delivered the Ammonites into the hands of Jephthah.

When Jephthah came back to his house, his daughter is the first person who comes out of his house to greet him with dancing.

Jephthah remember the oath he made to the Lord, and he cried out,”Ah, my daughter! I made a vow to the Lord that I will offer up the first person who came out of the house as a burnt offering to the Lord.”

Then Jephthah’s daughter said, “Let me wander in the deserts with my friends for two months for I will never be married.”

Jephthah sent his daughter away. Jephthah’s daughter wandered in the desert for two months and wailed her virginity on the mountain because she will never be married.

Thus the Israelites set a custom that the women will go out to lament for the daughter of Jephthah four days a year.

It happened that Samson fell in love with a woman called Delilah.

The Lords of the Philistines said to Delilah, “Find out how Samson is so strong so that we can tie him up and torture him. If you help us, we will give you 1000 pieces of silver.”

So Delilah bugged Samson day and night, asking him question on what makes him so strong.

Samson said to her, “Tie me up with seven bowstrings that are not yet dried and I will be as weak as anyone.”

The Philistine Lords brought seven bowstrings to Delilah. Delilah tied Samson with the seven bowstrings.

Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here to attack you,” Samson broke the seven bowstrings as a strand of yarn that touches fire.

Delilah begged Samson to tell her the secret of his strength. And Samson said, “Tie me up with new ropes and I will be as weak as anyone.”

So Delilah bound Samson with new ropes and shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here to attack you.” Samson broke the ropes off his arms like a thread.

Delilah was not satisfied that Samson had not yet gives her the answer so she began to bug Samson.

Samson said, “If you weave the seven locks of my hair into a loom, I will be as weak as any man.”

So Delilah weaved Samson’s hair tightly into a loom. Then she shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here to kill you.” Samson awoke and pulled his hair away from the loom.

Delilah said to Samson, “You had lied to me three times. How can you say, ’I love you’ and still tell lies to me. Tell me the truth. What really makes you so strong?”

Samson was very frustrated because Delilah kept on bugging him. Finally, Samson gave in and told her, “My hair cannot be shaved. If the hair on my head is shaved, the strength of the Lord will depart from me.”

Delilah lulled a lullaby and made Samson fell asleep on her legs.

After Samson had fallen asleep, Delilah shaves the hair off Samson. Delilah shouted again, “Samson, the Philistines are here to kill you.”

Samson woke up but the strength of God was not with him anymore. The Philistines bound Samson, and took out his eyes.

They made Samson grind the grains. Samson’s hair began to grow again.

One day, the Philistines held a feast to celebrate the Philistine God Dagon.

They sent for Samson to be brought out to entertain them. Samson was standing near a column.

There was a young man nearby and Samson said to him, “Help me to feel the two pillars of the temple.” The young men helped Samson.

Samson prayed to God, “O, Lord, strengthen me. Please let me take a last revenge for my two eyes and die with the Philistines.”

Samson took hold of the two large pillars that supported the temple, and pushed it down. The whole temple collapsed and everyone in it died.

Samson killed more people through the collapse of the temple than during his life time.

Samson was buried in the tomb of his father.

There was once a man called Manoah who lives in Zorah. Manoah and his wife have no children.

One day, while Manoah’s wife was in the field, an angel appeared to her.

The angel said, “You are barren now but you will soon become pregnant with a son. You will call him Samson. The power of the Lord will be with him. He will not be allowed to drink strong drinks and his hairs cannot be cut lest the strength of the Lord will leave him.”

She was so excited and went to told Manoah about it. Manoah prayed, “Lord, please make the angel who spoke to my wife appear again.”

When Manoah and his wife were in the field, the angel appeared.
Manoah said, “Are you the angel that spoke with my wife?”

The angel replied, “Yes.”

Manoah said, “May what you have said come to pass.”

And so Manoah’s wife conceived and bore a son. They called him Samson.

As Samson grew, the Lord blessed him. The Spirit of the Lord filled Samson and he began to move within him.

One day, Samson traveled to the town of Timnah. While he was there, he fell in love with one of the Philistine woman.

Then Samson said to his parents, “I am attracted to a Philistine woman. Please get her for me so that I can marry her.”

Samson’s father and mother, asked, “Can’t you take a woman from among our people? Why do you want to marry to the daughter of the uncircumcised Philistines?”

And Samson said, “I like the woman very much. She makes me feel happy. Get her for me.”

But Samson’s father and mother did not know that it was God that made Samson desire for the Philistine woman so that he can destroy the Philistine people. At that time, the Israelites were ruled by the Philistines.

Samson decided to go down to Timnah to see the Philistine woman.

On the way, a lion attacked Samson. The spirit of the Lord was upon Samson and Samson tore the lion into pieces without any weapon. Samson did not tell his parents about it.

When Samson arrives at the place, he went in and talked to the woman. The woman made Samson very happy and Samson is pleased with her.

After some time, Samson went down to Timnah again to marry the Philistine woman. While he was on his way, he saw honey in the carcass of the lion he killed.

Samson took some of the honey and ate it as he walk along. When Samson saw his father and mother, he gave some of the honey to them.

There were thirty young men present at Samson’s wedding. Samson decided to pose a riddle to them.

Samson said, “I will give you a riddle. If you can give me the correct answer to the riddle, I will give you thirty new linen garments and thirty new clothes. But if you cannot come up with an answer, you will give me thirty new linen garments and thirty new clothes.”

The thirty young men agreed with Samson. They said, “What is the riddle?”

So he said to them,
“The riddle is ‘Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness’” (King James Version. Judges 14:14)

The men couldn’t come up with the answer and so they pressured on Samson’s wife to give them the answer.

The men threatened to kill her family if she doesn’t give them the answer to the riddle.

She was very troubled so she nagged Samson day and night about it. Finally Samson gave in to his wife and told her answer to the riddle: lion.

The men told Samson the answer.

Then the Spirit of the Lord filled Samson and he went to Ashkelon to kill 30 Philistines.

Samson took their linen garments and clothing and gave them to the thirty men.

After many years had passed, the Israelites sinned against the Lord and He let the Midianites oppressed them.

The Israelites built for themselves shelters on the mountains.

Whenever the Israelites had sown seeds for their crops, the Midianites will come up and destroy their cops. The Midianites also killed all their livestock.

The Israelites cried out against the Lord and the Lord sent Gideon to deliver them out of the oppressions of the Midianites.

It happened that the angel of God came to sit down a terebinth tree in Ophrah. At that time, Gideon was threshing the wheat in the winepress.

The angel of God said to Gideon, “May God be with you. You are a brave and mighty man.”

Gideon said, “If this is so, then why has all these happened to us?”
Then the Lord turned to Gideon and said, “Go and fight with the Midianites. I will deliver the Midianites into your hand.”

Then God told Gideon to take his father’s young bull, and a seven years old bull and then go to the temple of Baal and cut down the wooden image to make an altar for the Lord.

Gideon did as God commanded him. When morning comes, the people of the city were angry to find the image of Baal was cut down and wanted to kill Gideon.

But Gideon’s father protected him by saying, “If Baal is so powerful, let him come down and revenge on Gideon himself.”

Then Gideon sent message to the tribe of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali to join him in his battle against the Midianites.

Gideon said to God, “If you will deliver Israelites through me, please give a sign of proof. I will put some dry wool on the threshing floor. If the next day I wake up, the wool is wet then I shall know that you are on my side.”

The next morning, Gideon found the fleece of wool on the threshing floor was wet and he squeezed out the water in a bowl.

Gideon decided to test the Lord again.

Gideon said, “Lord, please don’t get angry with me. I will put some wet wool on the threshing floor. If I wake up tomorrow and the wool is dry then I shall know that you will fight on my side.”

The next day, Gideon found there is only dry wool on the threshing floor but there was dew all around the floor.

The Lord said to Gideon, “Your army is too big. Your army must be smaller so that you cannot say that you overcome the Midianites yourself. Now say to the men, ‘Whoever is scared can go home now.'”

So 22,000 men returned to their home and only 10,000 men are left.

But the Lord said to Gideon, “Your army is still too big. Now tell the men to go the river side and drink water. Separate the men who lap the water with their tongue and the men who knelt down to drink water with their hand. I will tell you what to do next.”

Three hundred men lap the water with their tongue and the rest knelt down to drink water with their hand.

The Lord said to Gideon, “Your army should be made up of the three hundred men who lap water with tongue. Now you tell the rest of the men to go back to their home.”

And so Gideon sent the rest of the men who knelt down to drink water home.

That night, the Lord told Gideon, “Get up. Go into the camp of the Amalekites and Midianites and attack them now. If you are still afraid, you can go down into their camp and you will hear what they are saying and be strengthened to fight.”

So Gideon went down into the enemy camp with his servant Purah and they overheard an Amalekites watchmen saying, “Last night I dreamed that a barley loaf came tumbling down from the hill. It hit a tent and fall down.”

The other watchmen replied, “It must be Gideon who will destroy our army because God had delivered us into their hands.”

Then Gideon gave a trumpet, empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers to each of his men and gave them instruction to break the pitchers and shout out aloud “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon” (King James Version. Judges 7:18) when he gives the signal.

Gideon and his men came to the outside of the camp. Gideon gave signal and blew the trumpets and his men gave out a loud shout.

All the people in the enemy’s camp were in confusion. They started to kill each other. That day, the Lord delivered the Amalekites and Midianites into the hands of Gideon and his men.

After Ehud had passed away, the Israelites disobeyed the Lord again by worshiping idols.

So the Lord let King Jabin of Canaan overcome the Israelites. King

Jabin ruled Canaan from Hazor. The people of Israel cried out to the Lord and the Lord heard their prayers.

King Jabin had 900 iron chariots and he oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.

There was a wise woman prophet, called Deborah. Deborah always sits under the palm tree of Deborah to judge the matters brought to her by the people of Israel.

One day, Deborah called for Barak because she had a message from the Lord for him.

Deborah said to Barak, “God had commanded you to take 10,000 men from the tribe of Naphtali and Zebulun to attack King Jabin with his iron chariots. Go bravely because the Lord will deliver King Jabin and his armies into your hand.”

But Barak said to her, “I will not go unless you go with me.”

So she said, “All right, I will go with you but the Lord will gives the glory of the victory over Sisera to a woman.”

Barak went to Mount Tabor and gathered ten thousand men from the tribe of Naphtali and Zebulun.

Then they went to attack Sisera and his iron chariots army. With the help of God, Barak and his army defeated Sisera’s army with sword.

Only Sisera is left. Sisera ran way to escape from Barak. Sisera came to the tent of Jael.

Jael welcomed Sisera into her tent. She covered Sisera with a blanket and gave him some milk to drink.

When Sisera had fell asleep, he drew a tent peg through the skull of Sisera with a hammer and Sisera died.

When Barak came to the tent of Jael, Jael showed him the dead corpse of Sisera.

That very day, Barak and his army overcome the kingdom of King Jabin of Canaan.

The Israelites became stronger and stronger until they killed King Jabin of Canaan